AN:
Thank You to Deadzepplin, GlidingOne, DreamingIn2Eternity, AvivA-AvivA, REVOLUS, and e7cg13 for the beautiful reviews. A thanks to those who favorited either of my stories ( REVOLUS, e7cg13, dreamreaderh and lyra13x7)! Also thank you to anyone who put this on story alerts [misaki34, AvivA-AvivA, and e7cg13]. Thank you Sorceress Misha and e7cg13 for putting me on your Author alerts! And the final thank you goes to e7cg13, who put me on his/her Favorite authors list!
Wow. After those reviews I am beginning to feel that this chapter will be severely underwheming. But, I like most of it, so no additional changes.
AvivA-AvivA: Thank you for the insightful review. I worry to much about things, but spelling is not one of them! All your corrections are correct (shows how much this native speaker knows of the actual language). I do not have spell check, and the document uploader hates the software of my tablet... So yes, I need to be more carefulcareful.
Corrections will be made once the overall plot is complete. (This means that they will only be fixed when I have nothing else to do).
Sorry if I don't respond to your comment. I tend to focus on only one thing, then run with it. If you were mentioned above, You are being thought of in a high fashion.
Lets get the show on the road!
Sitting in a window, Eldarion gnawed on a piece of chocolate as Aragorn reported on the size of Saruman's army. He had been digging through his belongings to make sure that Orochimaru hadn't stolen anything of his and found a scroll filled with chocolate, ground coffee and caffine pills. Not being one to miss an opportunity, the elf-like boy had removed a bar of semi-sweet chocolate and was eating it. Kakashi had raised an eyebrow at the action, but declined to comment. Anko, who had joined them to provide Intel on Saruman, made a face.
"How on earth can you eat that stuff?" she whispered, her brown eyes flicking to the chocolate.
Eldarion shrugged. "It's good,"
The shinobi focused his attention to the commanders below. Thèoden was looking slightly worried.
"A great host, you say," he stated, his back to the door and everyone else in the room.
Kakashi quietly jumped down from his window perch and linked down to look at some of the maps covering two tables.
"All of Isengard has emptied," replied Aragorn. The man looked rather exhausted. Eldarion wondered if he should offer the ranger some chocolate.
"How many?" asked Thèoden, looking off in thought.
"Ten thousand strong at least," Aragorn answered.
The King turned around, stunned. "Ten thousand?" he whispered in disbelief.
"It will be less than that if Orochimaru carried out his job," Kakashi said, looking up from a map of the fortress. Seeing several confused looks, Kakashi clarified.
"We encountered another team of shinobi from our village and Aragorn persuaded them to assist your cause. Hoshi sent them off to attack some of the rear coloums, but not to alert the entire army of their activities. It will definantly come, but the numbers will be less than ten thousand,"
Thèoden did not seem to be mollified by Kakashi's information. He turned back to Aragorn.
"When will they arrive?" he asked, with an angry edge to his voice.
"They will be here by nightfall," Aragorn calmly responded.
Anko gave a groan. "Just perfect. Now they have the elemental advantage,"
Eldarion rolled his eyes. "Tell me how easy it its to climb a ladder in the pouring rain," he grumbled. "Besides, we have backup arriving around daybreak,"
The King of Rohan seemed to have ignored their exchange. "Let them come!" he growled, walking outside. He was followed by Gamling, his assistant, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. More of his advisors would have followed them if not for Kakashi stopping them.
"There are things I would like to discuss with you men," the masked shinobi looked up at the other two. *"Anko, stay here. Hoshi, follow the King,"*
Anko rolled her eyes, grumbling darkly. Eldarion climbed down and hurried after the commanders, shoving several people out of the way to reach them. Luckliy, he found them quickly. The incredibly tall Aragorn made the group easy to spot in the congested walls of the Deep. Thèoden approached the gate, but not before sending Gamling off with a message.
"I want every man and strong lad able to bare to be ready for battle by nightfall," he commanded, patting his shoulder. The man gave a quick bow, and ran off to complete his duty. Eldarion ducked and twisted past the men working on the gate, hammering planks of wood onto the gate to strengthen it. He ran over to stand beside Aragorn on the causeway outside the gate. The man's turned his head slightly to look down at the tall boy. His grey eyes flicked to the chocolate in Eldarion's hands. Wordlessly, Eldarion broke off a piece of the chocolate and gave it to Aragorn. The ranger gave him a nod of thanks and quickly ate the sweet.
Meanwhile, Thèoden described the entrace's defenses.
"We will cover the causeway and the gate from above," he said, gesturing to the ramparts above the gate. "No army has breached the Deeping wall, or set foot inside the Hornburg!"
"If we don't cover up that drain, than the wall will be breached and the keep overrun," Eldarion thought morosely.
"This is no rabble of mindless orcs," Gimli protested as he stood by the gate. "These are Uruk-hai. Their armor is thick and their shields broad,"
Thèoden looked insulted. The King approached the dwarf, displeased.
"I have fought many wars, Master Dwarf. I know how to defend my own keep," he said coldly.
Before Thèoden led the others back into the walls, Eldarion stopped them.
"Did you cover up the drain?" he asked.
The Eorling sighed. "Young shinobi. Your kind have kept pushing and pushing for me to cover up that drain. In all the wars I have fought behind these walls, the drain was never a problem,"
Eldarion's eyes narrowed. "My Sensei has shown you what our explosive tags are capable of," he said with false sweetness. "Saruman has developed a weapon that is ten times more destructive than that, and guess where he is going to put it,"
Legolas had turned green and Gimli's face had paled considerably. Thèoden didn't seem to be quite swayed yet. Aragorn was confused.
"Know you weaknesses and guard against them!" Eldarion hissed. "Or else you will have a bloodbath on your guilty hands,"
Thèoden King finally yielded. "I assume that you are skilled in masonry, Master Dwarf?" he asked the pale Gimli. The red-haired dwarf nodded, a gleam of pride in his eye.
"Indeed I am! So me where this vile drain is, and I will get rid of it," he answered in his gruff voice. Thèoden walked inside the gate and pulled a man aside.
"I want you to take this dwarf and several other men to the drain in the outer wall. You are to block it on both sides and block it well!"
The Rohirrim nodded and gestured for Gimli to follow him. With a 'harrup!' the dwarf walked off.
"How are things going?" asked a cheerful, accented voice. Legolas and Aragorn jumped in surprise. Eldarion whirled around to see his yellow-haired teacher walking up the causeway.
"Minato-sensei! How fare Frodo and Sam?" he asked with a smile.
The jōnin frowned slightly. "I believe that they were diverted from their original course, because they were in a ruined city with a river running through it. It was quite far from More-doors,"
"They were in Osgilith!" cried Aragorn, looking vexed. "That is far too close to the White City,"
"They are fine. The person in charge was Boromir's little brother. He allowed me to send Frodo, Sam and their guide on their way,"
Legolas's brow furrowed in confusion. "Guide?" he asked.
"Smèagol," Minato said shortly with a bright smile.
Thèoden poked his head from out behind the gate. "Are you coming or not?" he said with a faint smile.
With an assortment of murmured apologies, the group followed the King inside.
"Did you get Gamabuta to carry them to Mordor?" Eldarion asked his teacher, falling behind the others.
Minato shook his head. "I got this flying animal to carry them," he said. The elf-like boy noticed that Legolas had dropped back a bit to listen to their conversation.
Eldarion blinked. "Dark color, bat wings, bird feet, long tail with Nazgûl riding it?" he said.
Minato gave him a slightly confused look. "By Nazgûl you mean shadowy thing robed in black, correct?"
Eldarion nodded, then had a double take. "You sent them to Mordor on a Fell Beast!" he cried.
His teacher nodded. "It agreed to do so if I got the shadow off it's back, and I did. I have a kage bunshin with them, so Frodo and Sam should be fine,"
Eldarion was shocked. "How in Middle-Earth did you manage to unseat a Black Rider?" he almost whispered, rubbing his ears to try an collect his thoughts. They had followed Thèoden and Aragorn to the inner wall's ramparts. Both seemed to be arguing about alliances and what Saruman's army had set out to accomplish. Kakashi was there too, to discuss something with the King.
"Is it necessary for me to tell you the technique?" Minato said, looking embarressed. Kakashi had subtly drifted closer them, looking curious.
"You defeated a Nazgûl," whispered Legolas. "And they cannot die. They are near impossible to defeat,"
The jōnin rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "It's not really dead so much as humiliated," he mumbled.
"Minato-sensei," Eldarion said seriously. "What technique did you use to defeat the Nazgûl?"
Beet-red and barely looking up, the shinobi mumbled:
"One Thousand Years of Death,"
Everyone went silent, looking at the Yellow Flash with confusion or shock. Then Eldarion began howling with laughter, as did Kakashi.
"You have to be kidding me!" roared Eldarion, gasping for air. "You used that technique on The Dark Lord's most feared minion!"
Kakashi, who was merely chuckling before, doubled over in laughter, much to everyone's curiosity and bewilderment.
"What technique?" Aragorn asked, looking rather bemused. Eldarion managed to stifle his laughter, but he felt his face heat up at the question. How the hell was he supposed to explain the 'technique' that was nothing more than a humiliating prank?
Fortunately, Kakashi answered. "One Thousand Years of Death is a technique so secret and destructive that only the village's most elite shinobi know how to use it," he said in a solemn, mysterious voice.
Eldarion felt his left ear twich as he heard a snort of laughter below them on the ground. Anko was standing in the courtyard with Rin, Obito and Kuro, all displaying various degrees of amusement.
*'Yeah! It's so secret that little children know how to use it!"* she cried.
Minato chuckled, and shook his head. "The technique itself isn't very well known, but it is nothing more than a prank,"
Aragorn nodded, still looking rather confused. Thèoden turned to Kakashi.
"I know you would like to speak with me, lad. Come with me,"
The silver-haired boy bowed slightly, and gestured for Rin and the others below to follow him. Eldarion's ears twitched again as the Crebain circled above them, cawing loudly.
"Lets go with them," murmured Minato-sensei. Eldarion nodded, following his teammates inside.
Kakashi did not like the air around them. It was cold and filled with malice. The cloudy sky, void of any bright lights, promised rain. Thèoden had just ordered the women and children into the caves behind the fortress, which was a wise move. The King sat down on a chair in what Kakashi dubbed 'the war room'.
"What is it that you would like to say?" asked Thèoden, looking drained.
The chūnin felt sorry for the man, who wanted nothing more than to preserve the happiness and lives of his people. But war was war, and Thèoden was a capable leader.
"My comrades and myself will be of little assistance to you in this battle," started Kakashi. "We are not used to fighting behind walls. Forests, fields, mountains, rivers we can do. In close quarters behind walls, our actions would be limited," The Hatake inhaled deeply and continued.
"Hoshi plans on setting traps at the last minute, just in case any form of reenforcements arrive. Rin and Kuro will run the hospital, while Minato-sensei, Obito, Anko and I will take the wounded off the site of battle. The only time any of us will interfere in the battle is when things are going severely wrong,"
Thèoden sighed, but nodded. "I have no power over your or your fellows. Just do what you need to do,"
With a bow, the shinobi exited the room.